For Immediate ReleaseOffice of the Press SecretaryContact: 202-282-8010

WASHINGTON – Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano today announced the final allocations for seven FY 2012 Preparedness Grant programs, totaling more than $1.3 billion to assist states, urban areas, tribal and territorial governments, non-profit agencies, and the private sector in strengthening our nation’s ability to prevent, protect, respond to, and recover from terrorist attacks, major disasters and other emergencies in support of the National Preparedness Goal (NPG). In FY 2012, DHS preparedness grants were reduced by nearly $1 billion from the FY 2011 enacted level and $1.5 billion below the President’s FY 2012 request.

The FY 2012 grants focus on the nation’s highest risk areas, including urban areas that continue to face the most significant threats. Dedicated funding is provided for law enforcement and terrorism prevention activities throughout the country to prepare for and prevent and respond to pre-operational activity and other crimes that are precursors or indicators of terrorist activity.

Given limited resources, grantees are encouraged to utilize grant funding to maintain and sustain current capabilities through investments in training and exercises, updates to current planning and procedures, and lifecycle replacement of equipment. New capabilities that are built using homeland security grant funding must be deployable if needed to support regional and national efforts. All capabilities being built or sustained must have a clear linkage to the core capabilities in the NPG.

The FY 2012 grants incorporate input from DHS’ state, local, tribal, territorial, and private sector partners and detail specific steps undertaken by DHS to improve the ability of state and local partners to apply for and utilize grant funding. On February 13, 2012, the Department released the Guidance to State Administrative Agencies to Expedite the Expenditure of Certain DHS/FEMA Grant Funding, which provided a series of initiatives to help accelerate the drawdown of grant funding, enabling grantees to put previously awarded grant funding to work now in order to build and sustain core capabilities and address evolving threats.

FEMA proposed a new vision for homeland security grants in the FY 2013 President’s budget that focuses on building and sustaining core capabilities associated with the five mission areas within the NPG that are readily deployable and cross-jurisdictional, helping to elevate nationwide preparedness. The Administration looks forward to working with Congress and stakeholders to enable all levels of government to build and sustain, in a collaborative way, the core capabilities necessary to prepare for incidents that pose the greatest risk to the security of the nation.

Preparedness Grant Program Allocations for Fiscal Year 2012:

Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) – provides more than $830 million for states and urban areas to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from acts of terrorism and other threats.

State Homeland Security Program (SHSP) – provides $294 million to support the implementation of state homeland security strategies to build and strengthen preparedness capabilities at all levels.

Operation Stonegarden (OPSG) – provides more than $46 million to enhance cooperation and coordination among federal, state, territorial, tribal and local law enforcement agencies to jointly enhance security along the United States land and water borders.

Per the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 (Public Law 110-53) (hereafter “9/11 Act”), states are required to ensure that at least 25 percent of the combined HSGP funds allocated under SHSP and UASI are dedicated towards law enforcement terrorism prevention activities (LETPA) linked to one or more core capabilities within the NPG. The LETPA allocation can be from SHSP, UASI or both.

Emergency Management Performance Grants (EMPG) Program – provides more than $339 million to assist state and local governments in enhancing and sustaining all-hazards emergency management capabilities.

Tribal Homeland Security Grant Program (THSGP) – provides $6 million to eligible tribal applicants to implement preparedness initiatives to help strengthen the nation against risk associated with potential terrorist attacks and other hazards.

Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) – provides $10 million to support target hardening and other physical security enhancements for nonprofit organizations determined to be at high risk of a terrorist attack and located within one of the FY 2012 UASI-eligible urban areas.

Intercity Passenger Rail (Amtrak) Program – provides $10 million to protect critical surface transportation infrastructure and the traveling public from terrorism and increase the resilience of the Amtrak rail system.

Port Security Grant Program (PSGP) – provides more than $97 million to help protect critical port infrastructure from terrorism, enhance maritime domain awareness, and strengthen risk management capabilities in order to protect against improvised explosive devices and other non-conventional weapons.

Transit Security Grant Program (TSGP) – provides more than $87 million to owners and operators of transit systems to protect critical surface transportation and the traveling public from acts of terrorism and to increase the resilience of transit infrastructure.